PA to Israelis: Go Back to Europe

Palestinian Authority television tells Israelis to “go back” to Europe and Ethiopia.

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Maayana Miskin, 17/05/10 10:38 | updated: 13:16

PA leaders with US envoy

Israel news photo: Flash 90

As Palestinian Authority officials agree to indirect "proximity" peace talks with Israel, PA television sends a different message. A broadcast that was repeated twice last week called on Israelis to “return” to Europe and Ethiopia, so that PA Arabs can “return” to Israeli cities such as Akko (Acre), Haifa and Jerusalem.

The speaker suggested that Israelis go to “your original homeland,” listing Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Russia and Ethiopia as possible options. He did not mention the many countries in the Arab world from which Jews fled to Israel, such as Syria, Egypt, or Iraq.

PA TV is owned and controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

Besides portraying Israeli Jews – most of whom were born in Israel – as foreigners, the broadcast also backs the “right of return.” The PA, along with much of the Arab world, demands that Israel allow millions of Arabs born abroad to “return” to the Israeli cities from which their grandparents or great grandparents fled during the War of Independence in 1948.

The broadcast was picked up and translated by Palestinian Media Watch, which noted that this is far from the first time the PA has broadcast material portraying Israelis as foreigners who “stole” the land. In February, a PA children's program told Israeli Arab children that they are “part of occupied Palestine.”

In a recent interview with OpEdNews reporter Joan Brunwasser, PMW director Itamar Marcus warned that the incitement in PA media is more indicative of the PA's intentions than its statements given to the foreign press. “We feel that if there is to be peace, it has to start with children," Marcus said. "Therefore, what children are being taught in schools and what they are learning from music videos and children's media are a better indicator of the real beliefs and goals of the leaders, and will also determine if we have peace in the next generation."